A 'Gold' is an award made by the Blues Committee of Sydney University Sport & Fitness to recognise services rendered, over a period of at least seven years, to a member club or to SUSF itself. On 8 October, the Blues Committee has awarded three new cricket Golds – to Les Carrington, Phil Logan and the late Michael O’Sullivan.

Les Carrington has been involved with the club for forty years, having first joined in 1975. He was never a player, but has assisted the club in a variety of off-field roles, including scoring (for a variety of teams, but regularly for Second Grade), acting as club statistician, editing the club’s newsletter and compiling the Annual Report. He has also acted as Treasurer of the SUCC Foundation. He was elected a Vice President in 1978, won the JC Morris Trophy in 2009-10, and became a Life Member in 2014. According to James Rodgers, SUCC’s immediate past Chairman, “Les is a meticulous scorer; generous with his time; unfailingly committed; humble; held in high esteem by all who have benefitted from knowing him. It is because of such people as Les that the SUSF Clubs achieve greatness. SUCC owes him an enormous debt of gratitude.”

Phil Logan joined the club as a player in 1978 and has remained intensely involved for the last 37 years. He played continuously until 1997-98 and has played occasional matches since then, as well as appearing for the University Veterans. He became the fourth player in the club’s history to reach the milestone of 5000 runs and remains the seventh highest run-scorer in the history of the club, with 5781. From 1985 onwards, Phil often served the club as a captain of lower grade teams, especially in Thirds and Fourths, playing an important role in both the administration of the club and the development of younger players. He was a member of the General Committee for several seasons during the 1980s and 1990s. More recently, he has served on the Club’s Board since 2008. Phil won the club’s highest award, the JC Morris Trophy, in 2006-07. He was elected a Vice-President of the Club in 1990 and a Life Member in 2007. In 1989, Phil was appointed Chairman of Selectors, chairing selection meetings, providing impartial guidance on selections and ensuring that club selection policies were implemented. Phil remained in this role from 1989 to 1991, then again from 2005 to 2011, and began a third term in the role this season. Since 2008, Phil has been the Chairman of the Cricket Club Foundation. This is a critical role, which involves raising funds from club supporters and the management of those funds in conjunction with SUSF.

Michael O’Sullivan receives the rare posthumous award of a Gold, to complement the Blue he won in 1974. His service to the club is a matter of wide general knowledge, spanning a lengthy First Grade career (it is unlikely that his tally of First Grade wickets for the Club will ever be surpassed), which included a couple of terms as captain, and devoted service as an administrator after his retirement. The award of a Gold principally recognizes his service off the field, especially his eight-year term as Chairman of the Board from 2005 until his untimely death in 2013. In that capacity, Mick worked tirelessly to build a better, stronger club. His leadership was as every bit as focused, committed and intense as his bowling had been, and the Club’s current strength is due to a large extent to his vision and energy. His exemplary service to the game was acknowledged when he was elected to Life Membership of the Sydney Cricket Association in 2002 (he had been made a Life Member of SUCC in 1996).

These awards will be conferred formally at the Blues Dinner on Saturday night. The full list of Club members (in order of award) who have now received Golds is:

John Malicki (1980)

Damon Ridley (1980)

James Rodgers (1980)

Mark Sewell (1980)

John Spence (1980)

Alan Crompton (1999)

Ian Fisher (2000)

Ted LeCouteur (2001)

Bruce Collins (2002)

Ian Foulsham (2008)

Les Carrington (2015)

Phil Logan (2015)